Charlie Bone and the New Student
by Sop12345d
Summary: Charlie has just started his second year at Bloor's Academy and he thinks the excitement from last year has ended... boy is he wrong. Introduces my OC, Aaliyah Crowe. I can't remember when Dagbert, Joshua, the Branko twins or Dorcas come into the series, so they're all here in Charlie's second year. Rated T for now but I might change it to K plus.
1. Chapter 1

**Charlie Bone and the New Student**

_Based on the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo._

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize here. Jenny Nimmo does. _

**Author's Note:**

**Hello again. This is my second fanfic. If anyone likes it I'll continue the story. Please rate and review!**

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><p><span>Chapter 1: Bloor's Academy<span>

_That's it,_ I thought, as I walked into "my" alley and came across two stray cats that were eating my food scrap stash. _I'm going to Bloor's._

I had been living on the streets for two years now, while still managing to go to regular school in the city. My parents died in a freak car accident two years ago, and everyone thought I had died along with them, since the car blew up after I got out but unfortunately with my parents still inside it. As soon as the shock wore off, I knew I had to immediately hide, or Social Services would come and drag me off to a foster home or something, and I was not about to let that happen.

So I hid. I took to the streets and made myself a cozy corner in a forgotten alleyway. I found a new school to go to (I was only 10 after all; I needed an education) and basically hypnotized a random, nice-looking couple that looked relatively like me that I found in a cafe into being my parents for the afternoon while we went to the school to set up my administration to grade 6. Yup. I hypnotized them. Before my parents died, they explained to me that I have these special powers called _endowments, _which I've inherited from my famous ancestor, the Red King. Usually endowed people only have one endowment, they told me, but I have several because both of my parents were descended from the Red King.

In short, I can read minds, control the elements (fire, air, earth and water), control the temperature, control other peoples' minds, shape-shift and control objects with my mind (telekinesis). Yup, a lot of controlling.

Anyway, I invented a name for myself at the new school, but as time went on, people became suspicious about my powers (which I tried really hard to hide) and the fact that nobody had ever seen my "parents" again after the administration. Plus, living on the streets has become harder. I get by on tidbits I steal from restaurant dumpsters that aren't rotten and even sometimes actual food I steal from corner stores and places like that. It's easy to do when you can successfully convince the shop owner to forget you were ever there in the first place. Only, I don't do that trick as often because it makes me feel guilty.

However, it was autumn and close to another new school year and I was having to fight stray cats and dogs and even other orphans in the alleys for food. My parents had told me that if I was ever in trouble, I should go to this school called Bloor's Academy, run by my uncle, Dr Bloor. It was a boarding school, meaning I'd get food, water, a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head and an actual bathroom to clean myself in, and they accepted the endowed. I originally didn't want to go there because Manfred Bloor gave me the creeps, plus the school was for freaks anyway, but now it seemed I had no choice. I couldn't keep living like this, on the streets, with winter coming up and the school getting more and more suspicious.

So that's how I ended up in front of a tall, grey building called Bloor's Academy, carrying what few belongings I had been able to salvage from my house after my parents had died. I knocked carefully on a great foreboding door and waited patiently. It was the weekend before the first day of school. Finally, a short, wiry, bald man who reminded me of a bat with his beady eyes opened the door a crack and asked gruffly, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Is Dr Bloor in? I need to speak with him," I replied in my most polite tone. I didn't like this guy.

The man studied me for a moment before asking, "And what is your name?"

"Aaliyah Crowe," I said, brushing my black hair out of my black eyes. Did I mention that I'm an albino? I have white hair, red eyes and skin as pale as snow, but as soon as I had gone into hiding I had used the little money I had left to buy special colour contacts to make my eyes look black (it was the only relatively normal colour I could find) and a good supply of black hair dye. I didn't want to stick out, and albinos stuck out.

Anyway, the man simply sneered at me before saying, "Wait here. I'll inform him that you're here," and shut the door in my face. _Great, _I thought, and sat down on my box of stuff. Ten minutes later, the same man opened the door and grumbled brusquely, "Get inside. The headmaster wants to see you."

I stood up and picked up my box in both hands, then followed the man inside, up a staircase and down a few corridors, all the while observing every detail about the place. The academy was elegant and fancy, yet, _faded, _and even had cobwebs in some corners. Finally, the man stopped and knocked on an imposing, thick wooden door. Someone screeched, "Come in!" and the door opened. Immediately, I saw what at first glance must be a skull sitting on some blankets in a wheelchair, then took a closer look. It was an old man, a _really _old man, so old that his face looked like it was no more than a skull with bright, cunning eyes staring out of it, with greasy, white wisps of hair hanging down the side of his head. The man was covered in blankets and sat in a wheelchair by a roaring fireplace. Ezekiel Bloor.

I stepped inside the room after the man who "greeted" me at the door and felt other peoples' eyes on me. I turned and saw a tall, grouchy looking man with grey hair and a moustache standing in the corner, staring at me. Dr Bloor. I turned again and saw a young man of about 18 years standing in the shadows with black hair in a ponytail and cold black eyes. Manfred Bloor.

"So," started Dr Bloor. "Aaliyah Crowe? My dear departed sister's daughter?" he asked. He didn't sound sad at all when he said "dear departed".

"Yes," I replied, knowing they'd have a fit that I was alive and endowed.

"You're still alive," he stated the obvious. "Might I ask how?"

"I got out of the car early and have hid away ever since, and that's all there is to it," I said tersely, disliking him on the spot. I notice he gave a look to Manfred across the room, as if to prompt him to say something.

"Are you looking to stay here?" he spoke up, sounding bored.

"Yes, I am. Also, I recently found out that I'm endowed," I said, lying through my teeth about the second part. I had discovered my endowments when I was 8 years old.

The three Bloors all simultaneously leaned forward with renewed interest and Old Ezekiel asked in what he probably thought was a sweet, persuasive tone, "Really? What is it, my dear?"

See, the good thing about having multiple endowments is that you can reveal one to bad people and they'll think you've told them your one endowment, while really you have more up your sleeve. I chose one of the endowments I thought would be of lesser interest to them while still remaining useful and said, "Telekinesis," knowing full well that they already had two endowed twins, Idith and Inez Branko, who were telekinetics.

"Oh," said Manfred, a bit disappointed, I think. But then he brightened a little and said in a fake persuasive tone, "But you _must _stay here! You shouldn't be on the streets, all by yourself!" He had probably just realized that I could still be useful if I came to his side. I had heard all about the battle between the good and evil endowed children here, and wanted nothing to do with it. I was going to be a neutral party.

"Okay then," I said, knowing they'd just love for me to stay so they could use me. I knew this, but I still needed a place to stay.

"Then it's all settled then," Dr Bloor boomed. "Manfred, why don't you take the girl to the dormitories?" he prompted Manfred.

Manfred said, "Of course, Father," and walked out the room, me following him with my box of stuff. We turned more corners and went down some staircases until we reached a room with rickety beds lined up in it with an adjoining bathroom. Manfred said, "Here is where you will be sleeping for the week and weekend, since I assume that you don't have anywhere to go for the weekend," a smug tone creeping into his voice at that last bit. I ignored him and chose the bed closest to the window. My cousin (ugh!) continued, "Normally children stay here for the week and go home for the weekend to their families. There are three departments: art, music and drama. Which one are you going to go into?"

"Art," I replied, because I didn't like music and despised drama.

Manfred continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Each department has a differently coloured cape; blue for music, green for art and purple for drama. You will receive your uniform tomorrow, along with your schedule. The wake up alarm sounds at 7 o'clock, you have to be in the cafeteria for breakfast by 8 o'clock and Assembly starts at 8:45. Classes officially start at 9 o'clock, lunch is at noon and dinner is at 6 o'clock. Lights out by 9 o'clock and no talking after lights out. The endowed children do their homework in the King's Room from 6:45 to 8 o'clock. Here is some school work to test your abilities in various subjects." He pulled out a generous stack of paper and a pencil. He handed it to me with a smirk and said, "Finish it in two hours," before walking away.

I shrugged and sat down on the floor and started the work. It wasn't hard, just some history, math, science, french and geography. I finished it with half an hour to spare and organized my things under my bed and washed up. _I wonder where I'll get new clothes, _I thought randomly when I was done. This thought was satisfied when Manfred came up carrying some clothes that looked like hand-me-downs from an older sister or something and said, "Here. There's some clothes for the weekend. Did you finish your school work?"

"Thanks and yes.' I answered. It was my turn to be smug as I handed over my work sheets. He looked surprised that I had finished in the allotted time. I smiled. I had always been a good student.

"Dinner's in the cafeteria with one canteen per department. You're to eat from the green one," he said, the left again. I put on a striped blue and black shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of white socks before sticking the rest of the clothing in the box under my bed and heading downstairs to find the cafeteria. I eventually found it and was served by a rather mean looking lady who reminded me of the man who opened the door for me. I looked at my plate and saw what might have been mashed potatoes and peas if they hadn't rotted 5 days ago. Oh well. Maybe I was exaggerating. It didn't taste good, whatever it was, but hey, at least it was food. Plus, this was probably all I would normally get.

I roamed the academy for the rest of the evening before heading back to bed, taking off my contacts and falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next day, I had breakfast (the same unidentifiable stuff) and explored outside the academy this time. There were some ruins of a once great castle with red walls behind the academy, but I didn't dare go in lest I got lost. I came in again for lunch, my uniform and my schedule, trying on my uniform and cape before trying to see if I could find my locker and various classes. I managed to memorize the different routes to my classes, my locker, the cafeteria and the girls' dormitory by dinner. That night I went to bed feeling full and kind of happy for once. I had a good food and water supply, I had a bed and a roof over my head, I had education and I had the freedom to be myself (well, sort of) since there would be other endowed children here too.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Sooo... thumbs up? thumbs down? **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: My First Day

The next morning, I woke up early and got dressed, put my contacts on, touched up my hair with a special cosmetic stick I'd bought with black pigment on it, brushed my teeth, washed my face and put my green cape on. I was ready for the day.

At 7:30, three buses (one blue, one purple and one green) pulled up in front of the school and kids in blue, purple and green (respectively) coloured capes poured out. Everyone was chatting and greeting each other until they all passed through the front hall; they all fell deathly silent. I presumed that it was a rule to be quiet in the halls and blended in with the crowd of girls going to the dormitory to put away their stuff. A girl in a purple cape and rainbow hair talking to a blonde haired girl in a green cape seemed nice, but I didn't say anything since I was supposed to be drawing no attention to myself.

We headed back downstairs to the cafeteria and got our breakfast from the green canteen. I walked back to an empty table and sat down. Soon, though, I noticed a boy with unruly brown hair eyeing me from the queue at the blue canteen. I thought nothing of it until I saw him out of the corner of my eye heading over in my direction, along with a shorter boy with white hair and red eyes. _An albino like me, _I thought. The boy with brown hair asked me politely, "Is anyone sitting here?"

I looked up and their eyes widened a bit when they saw my pure black ones. "No," I said indifferently.

They sat down and introduced themselves. "My name's Charlie Bone and this is Billy Raven," the brown haired boy said, pointing to himself and then the albino boy, who added shyly, " Hello."

I nodded and said, "I'm Aaliyah Crowe. Nice to meet you," before continuing to eat. I felt their stares on me, so I looked up again with a questioning glance.

Charlie seemed aware that he'd been caught staring, so he asked, "Sorry, but are you endowed?"

"Yes," I replied simply. I did a quick scan of his mind and found he was going to ask next what endowment I had.

Sure enough, he asked, "Do you mind telling me what it is?" God, he sure was polite.

"You'll find out soon enough," was my cryptic answer. He was about to say something else when Dr Bloor, sitting at the High Table overlooking the entire cafeteria, stood up and announced, "Welcome to another year at Bloor's Academy. I'd like to introduce a new endowed student this year. Aaliyah Crowe, please stand up."

I groaned inwardly at all the stares I would get but stood up anyway. I scanned the room and expectedly, the students were staring at my eyes and wondering what my endowment was. I stared back unflinchingly, daring them to continue. All of them abruptly dropped their gazes and I sat back down.

Assembly went by uneventfully, then I went to my first class, which was double history. I groaned inwardly again; I hated history. I walked into the classroom to most of the class already sitting down at their desks. I chose a spot in the second row to the side and sat down. I felt eyes on me again, but this time I ignored them. It was like that all morning until I got to lunch.

I once again sat down at an empty table, only to find that Charlie Bone boy, Billy Raven, a tall boy with spiky, electric blonde hair, a tall dark-skinned boy with black hair, the girl with rainbow hair I'd thought was nice, a blonde haired girl (possibly the one I saw the rainbow haired girl talking to), a boy with short dirty blonde hair and a boy with unkempt brown hair approaching the table.

"Hello again," Charlie greeted me. I nodded at him and let my gaze stray over the new arrivals. "These are my friends," Charlie said, nudging the spiky-haired blonde boy.

He gave a start and introduced himself, "Tancred Torsson."

The blonde girl with a green cape I was now sure I'd seen talking to the girl with rainbow hair said, "Emma Tolly."

The dark-skinned boy spoke up. "Lysander Sage."

The girl with rainbow hair smiled and said, "Olivia Vertigo."

"Gabriel Silk," said the boy with unkempt brown hair.

Lastly, the boy with short dirty blonde hair said, "Fidelio Gunn."

"Aaliyah Crowe," I introduced myself, even though they probably knew that from Dr Bloor's announcement this morning.

They all sat down and I noticed Manfred frowning at them out of the corner of my eye. I turned my gaze back towards the group of friends as Olivia (who seemed very energetic) asked, "So what's your endowment?"

There it was again. I'd planned on telling them only one of my endowments (telekinesis, since that's what I told the Bloors). They'd flip if I told them that I had six endowments. "Telekinesis," I responded. They looked all at once amazed and wary; amazed at my telekinesis (it is pretty cool, if I do say so myself) and wary of what it could mean at the same time because of the Branko twins. There were polite nods, then they started telling me their endowments. Charlie was a picture traveller, Billy spoke to animals, Lysander could call up his spirit ancestors, Tancred could create storms, Emma could fly and Gabriel could feel peoples' emotions through clothing. Fidelio and Olivia said they weren't endowed, but I noticed the anxious look on Olivia's face and dug a little deeper with my mind reading ability. She was actually endowed too (an illusionist) but was keeping it a secret from the Bloors. I decided not to comment on that lest I reveal myself to be a mind reader. No one ever really trusts a mind reader, especially one that can control your mind, shape shift and is Manfred Bloor's cousin.

We made small talk while we ate, then Charlie invited me to join them outside. I hesitated, as I had been dead set on not picking sides, but the thought of hanging out with Manfred made me sick, so I said sure.

We headed out into the fresh air, dozens of other differently coloured capes walking past us and around the yard. Our group walked over to stand next to the castle ruins, which seemed to be a regular meeting spot for them. Olivia and Emma chatted about movies (it seemed Olivia's mother was an actress), Tancred and Lysander were laughing over some failed sculpture attempt in art class (they both wore green capes), Gabriel and Fidelio just talked quietly while Charlie and Billy spoke about me, although they didn't know I could hear them and I wasn't about to tell them that.

"She's a bit strange," Billy whispered. "Did you see her eyes? They're pure black!"

"Keep it down, Billy! And yes, I saw her eyes. What I'm more interested in is if she's on our side or their side. She seemed friendly enough, but she's a bit reserved," Charlie answered.

I thought about this. Sure, I come off pretty emotionless and quiet, but if you get to know me, I'll talk for hours if it's something I care about. I interrupted their gossiping and asked, "So what's the King's Room?" since I still needed to know.

Charlie answered me. "Well, it's the room where all the endowed children go every evening to do their homework. There's a painting of our ancestor, the Red King, in there."

"Oh, cool," I said absentmindedly, zoning out like I always do when I'm bored. No one said much after that, and I was glad to escape the awkwardness that had set in when the bell rang and students started heading inside. Afternoon classes were uneventful. At 6 o'clock, we all crowded into the cafeteria to get dinner. I sat alone again but I noticed Charlie and his friends having an intense discussion a few tables over, and figured they were debating who's side I'd take. I sighed and decided to listen in by going inside of Charlie's mind and just observing everything he observed. Soon I was hearing the entire conversation, along with Charlie's thoughts.

"But she seems nice!" protested Olivia.

"Yeah, but odd. Like somethin's off about her," said Tancred.

_Tancred is always so suspicious of everyone, _thought Charlie. He then said, "Why don't we just wait until we go to the King's Room for homework? We'll see who's side she picks when she sits down."

I was surprised that he had such an open mind. Well, when homework time came around, I'd sit in the middle and with nobody just to make my point that I was a neutral party here.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Neutral Party

When I started second year, I expected the excitement from last year to be over and done with. However, I didn't expect Aaliyah Crowe.

On the first day of the first term, I was in the queue for breakfast at the blue canteen (I'm in music) when I noticed her. A girl with straight black hair and pale skin was sitting alone at a table. I hadn't seen her around before, so I figured she was a new student. I quickly talked Billy into coming over with me instead of joining our friends Tancred, Lysander, Gabriel, Fidelio, Olivia and Emma like we usually would. It didn't seem as if the people around the new girl were shunning her, it looked like _she _was shunning _them._

I slowly made my way across the cafeteria and asked in what I hoped was a friendly and polite tone, "Is anyone sitting here?"

The girl suddenly looked up and I felt my eyes widen involuntarily. Her eyes were pure black! Not like Manfred's though, but she looked a bit like him, like they were distant cousins. I shook off the thought as the girl answered, "No" in a blank tone. I peered at her face discreetly and found no emotion there. Creepy.

I introduced myself and Billy, who gave a shy greeting, and waited for her answer. She said, rather abruptly, "I'm Aaliyah Crowe. Nice to meet you," before continuing to eat. Funny, she wasn't even complaining about the quality of the food. She even looked actually grateful for it.

Then, a thought struck me and I realized we could have another new endowed child here. I stared at Aaliyah, trying to guess what her endowment was, if she had one. It wasn't magnetism, or she'd have bit of paper and leaves stuck to her clothing and I wouldn't be getting this creepy vibe off from her. She definitely wasn't like Dagbert Endless, another endowed boy who had joined the Bloors' side who could drown people and who often smelled like fish. She couldn't make storms, or her hair would be crackling with electricity, like Tancred's. She was wearing old hand-me-down clothing, so she didn't have Gabriel's endowment. Gabriel could feel peoples' emotions through their clothing and he often preferred to wearing new clothing so he wasn't overcome with other peoples' feelings. Was she even endowed? She looked normal enough, except for the really pale skin, the pure black eyes and the fact that she'd sat by herself purposely. Oh, and the fact that she didn't seem to mind the food. I was suddenly distracted from my thoughts when Aaliyah glances up at me with a question in her eyes. _Why are you staring at me? _I pushed away the sudden embarrassment I felt when she caught me staring at her and asked in a rush, "Sorry, but are you endowed?" I held my breath, eyeing Billy out of the corner of my eye. Billy was eyeing Aaliyah too, but with a friendlier look.

"Yes," she said. _Amazing! _I thought. _She's endowed!_

When she didn't specify what endowment it was, I asked her. She just said, "You'll find out soon enough," mysteriously and left it at that. I was about to tell her it was ok if she didn't feel like revealing her endowment right away and that she shouldn't tell the Bloors what her endowment was when Dr Bloor, the headmaster, stood up at the Head Table and announced, "Welcome to another year at Bloor's Academy. I'd like to introduce a new endowed student this year. Aaliyah Crowe, please stand up." Aaliyah stood up and faced the curious yet wary faces around the cafeteria. She glared at them all and just like that, they all broke eye contact with her and looked down. She sat back down with a huff and didn't say anything for the rest of breakfast or Assembly. I saw her in double history that morning, but she didn't look back at me, though I saw her pause, as if she'd sensed I was looking at her.

At lunch I met up with my friends and told them about Aaliyah and suggested we should try to make friends with her. Tancred just said, "Fine. Though I expect she'll be trouble. I saw her in the hall and she just looks, I don't know, off for some reason."

"Oh, give her a chance, Tanc! I'll bet she loves movies," exclaimed Olivia, the loudest and proudest of our group. This week her hair was literally rainbow dyed. This was to be expected with any drama student like Olivia, but Olivia really is a great actress.

Lysander then chose to speak up. "Why don't we just go over and introduce ourselves? That's a start." We all agreed and with Tancred still mumbling about the new girl being trouble, we all started off for the same table where Aaliyah had sat at breakfast. She was there again, and still alone. She looked up as we approached and I prompted Tancred to introduce himself, prompting the rest of the group to introduce themselves as well.

Of course, Olivia was the first to ask Aaliyah what her endowment was and surprisingly, she told us. "Telekinesis," she replied coolly. I was amazed at her endowment as it was a pretty useful one, but I felt wary at the same time and notices the rest of the group tensing up as well. The Branko twins, Idith and Inez, were telekinetics too and were on the Bloors' side. However, I knew we shouldn't jump to conclusions about Aaliyah just because of what her endowment turned out to be. We all told her our respective endowments and continued eating. At the end of lunch, I invited Aaliyah to hang out with us. Rather surprisingly, she accepted.

We all headed outside into the fresh air, people in our group having various conversations while me and Billy held our whispered one, trying not to be heard by Aaliyah.

"She's a bit strange," Billy whispered to me when Aaliyah's attention seemed to be elsewhere. "Did you see her eyes? They're pure black!"

"Keep it down, Billy! And yes, I saw her eyes. What I'm more interested in is if she's on our side or their side. She seemed friendly enough, but she's a bit reserved," I answered. And it was true. We had tried being friendly to her, but Aaliyah was still coming off indifferent and uncaring. Had she already sided with the Bloors? No, if she had, then she would've been purely nasty to them and while she didn't seem all that friendly on the surface, I had a feeling that once I got to know her, she'd turn out way different than I expected.

Aaliyah asked me a question about the King's Room and I answered her, wanting to be helpful. However, after that, am awkward silence descended upon us, not breaking until the bell rang for afternoon classes. I was glad, for once, to walk into Geography class.

The rest of my afternoon was normal until dinner, when the group held a heated discussion about Aaliyah. Just as Olivia said, "But she seems nice!" I felt odd, like someone was staring at me from the inside, if that made sense. It made me squirm in my seat, but no one noticed.

The conversation continued. "Yeah, but odd. Like somethin's off about her," said Tancred.

_Tancred is always so suspicious of everyone, _I thought ruefully. Finally, having had enough, I said, "Why don't we just wait until we go to the King's Room for homework? We'll see who's side she picks when she sits down." With that, the uncomfortable feeling inside me disappeared and I looked around warily to figure out what or who it was. But I notices nothing out of the ordinary and continued with my meal of cold two-day-old chicken with half-cooked rice until the bell rang for students to clear the cafeteria, which was me and my endowed friends' cue to head up to the King's Room for homework.

We were still all together in one group when we arrived at the circular room with the famed portrait that always caught my eye. We all walked in with two minutes to spare, sitting down opposite of Dorcas Loom, the Branko twins, Dagbert Endless, Joshua Tilpin and Manfred Bloor at the table. There was no sign of Aaliyah. Then, with one minute until the bell, she briskly walked in and sat down in the middle of the table, between the two groups.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Spilled Coffee And Failed Hypnosis

I was surprised. Shocked, really. I had been expecting Crowe to sit with Charlie and his fellow brats, but the girl had sat in the middle of the two groups. Well, at least there was still a chance of me getting her to our side. Maybe I'll try hypnotizing her after homework time...

I was shaken from my reverie by that Bone brat, Charlie. He was practically spluttering, he was so shocked. I hid a snicker behind an abrupt cough and focused on introducing Crowe. "We have a new endowed student joining us this year. Aaliyah Crowe, would you please show us your endowment?"

Crowe kept her gaze aimed at me, but out of the corner of my eye I saw my coffee mug lifting up into the air by itself. She didn't even have to look at an object to move it! With the Branko twins, you could guess when they'd start using their telekinesis when they suddenly stared at something. But this girl was obviously more powerful! Even more of a reason to recruit her.

However, I was not amused when she tipped my mug over mid-air and some hot coffee spilled out and onto my hand. I hissed and jumped back while snickers from Bone's side of the table sounded out. I glared at Crowe and said, "Be careful, girl! You do that again and I'll give you detention!"

"Really? Well, go ahead and do it then. It won't make a difference, since I _already live here,_" Aaliyah said snidely. I face palmed myself mentally. Of course! The girl couldn't get detention since she had nowhere to go during the weekends. That was annoying. Plus, she'd just majorly embarrassed me.

I just growled at her and barked at everyone else to do their homework already, then sat down. This was going to be a long, _long, _two hours.

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><p>Two hours later, I stood up as quickly as I could and shot out of the King's Room. Half an hour into homework time, Aaliyah had set down her pencil, leaned back into her seat and put her hands behind her head. I had looked up at her closed eyes and ordered, "Crowe, stop sleeping and do your homework!" I would have been nastier, but she's an endowed child to be recruited, so I had to play it nice.<p>

The girl had just opened her eyes and gave me an incredulous look. "But I'm finished!" she'd said. I had watched the eyes of everyone else at the table widen. Even though it was the first day of the term, the students still got plenty of homework. There was no way she was finished already. I had said as much to her and had watched the smirk grow on her face. "Well, I'm finished. You can check it yourself," she'd replied cheekily. I had huffed and held out my hand, but instead of handing her homework to me, Aaliyah had flew it over with telekinesis. Was she deliberately trying to get on my nerves?

I had flipped through the history, english, math and science worksheets and felt my eyes widen as well. Every single question had been answered and by skimming through most of it, I had seen that her answers were perfectly correct, too. How did she finish so fast? Instead of consenting defeat and admitting that she had, in fact, finished homework in 30 minutes that would've taken me three hours at her age, I had simply given the homework back to her and sat down to continue my book. Everyone else had stared at Aaliyah with wonder while she just returned their stares evenly and with indifference. I'd stolen a glance at her face and saw no emotion. Weird. She was really good at maintaining a poker face.

After fifteen minutes, it seemed Aaliyah had gotten bored with doing nothing, because the next thing I knew, paper airplanes were literally flying around the room. Aaliyah was controlling them with telekinesis. I had stood up and yelled at her, "Stop that!" but since she knew I couldn't punish her, she had just grinned at me and kept doing it. Both sides of the room were snickering now.

Another fifteen minutes later, Aaliyah had seemingly gotten tired of the paper airplanes and was trying to draw something on a piece of paper using telekinesis. That luckily held her attention for the remaining hour, although I could've done without the obnoxious squeaking of cheap mechanical pencil on paper and Aaliyah's muttered curses whenever she broke the pencil lead, which happened about every two minutes. However, she didn't give up until the last minute of homework time, when she'd casually gathered her things and leaned back until her chair was balancing on two legs. She didn't fall, though, because she was maintaing the chair's position with telekinesis.

As soon as I left the King's Room, I headed straight for my office and sat down, thinking hard about how to get Crowe on our side. She was annoying, sure, but useful; I could tell. Finally, I decided to call her to my office and try to hypnotize her onto our side. Knowing her focusing skills, Aaliyah couldn't have a powerful enough mind to fight my hypnosis, could she?

* * *

><p>Twenty-five minutes later, Aaliyah stepped into my office without knocking first. I huffed, annoyed at her lack of manners, but decided that was besides the point. "Sit down," I invited her, gesturing to the chair in front of my desk. She sat down, watching me closely.<p>

"What do you want, Manfred? If this is about the homework, then no, I can't tutor you," Crowe said cheekily. I very nearly lost my temper at that point, but managed to count to ten and calm down. I had things to get done.

"_No, _this is not about that. I just wanted to talk with you about your first day at Bloor's. How do you find our school so far? Did you sleep well in the dormitory?" I asked, building up to it.

She looked puzzled before the emotionless mask slid onto her face once more. "My day has been lovely, thanks. I slept well," Aaliyah answered in a blank tone.

"That's good. Are you sure you're not tired? Sleepy, maybe? Very, _very, _sleepy..." I continued, letting my voice trail off while staring right into her two pure black eyes. I waited for the moment when her mind would open itself to me, letting me hypnotize her, but the moment never came. Aaliyah's eyes didn't start closing, she didn't faint and most importantly, she was staring back at me, not even remotely hypnotized.

"Uhhh... okay then. Well, I should get going. It's half an hour 'til lights out and I'd like to spend it without odd men commenting on my sleep," Aaliyah said. And with that, she left.

I was still in a state of shock. Only Charlie Bone had ever resisted my hypnosis, but he had two strains of magic from his parents, so he was probably more powerful than most children. Also, there was Billy Raven, the albino boy. Something about his red eyes prevented me from hypnotizing him. But this Crowe girl wasn't an albino! Granted, Aaliyah had pale skin, but she had black hair and black eyes. I sighed and headed for my father's office. Maybe I could discuss this with him and my great-grandfather.

* * *

><p>"YOU WHAT?!"<p>

I winced at Great-Grandfather's ear piercing screech. "I... failed at hypnotizing the girl," I mumbled again, knowing full well that Ezekiel had definitely heard me the first time. He may not look it, but the old man was way sharper in his wits than most men of over a hundred years old.

My father shook his head and said disapprovingly, "You're losing your touch, Manfred. First the Bone boy, now this!"

"Charlie Bone doesn't count in this! He's a complete pain and he doesn't know how to keep his nose out of other peoples' business!" I whined. "Why don't we just _get rid _of him?"

"Manfred, if the boy was to go missing, those friends of his and his uncle Paton would practically snap our necks to get him back," Father said calmly. "Be patient, son. Good things come to those who wait."


End file.
